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William Friedkin ’s now - classic horror movieThe Exorcistis still regarded as one of the shuddery motion picture in the history of film , and with its legacy and winner also comes a think hex – but in reality , most of those foreign result surroundingThe Exorcistcan be well debunked . In 1973,The Exorcistarrived to terrorize audiences around the Earth , who unquestionably were n’t ready to find the story of Regan MacNeil ( Linda Blair ) and how she became possess bya demonic entity known as Pazuzu .
Based on the 1971 novel of the same name , The Exorcistfollows Father Lankester Merrin ( Max von Sydow ) and Father Damien Karras ( Jason Miller ) as they are task with performing an dispossession on 12 - year - old Regan after she started acting violently , talk in tongue , and killed one of her mother ’s friends . The exorcism is n’t well-fixed , and the demon begins to psychologically attack Karras , but he and Merrin do everything they can to salvage Regan . Given its theme , The Exorcistis said to be a cursed film , which has added to its minacious legacy , but the “ unsaved ” events that happened on solidifying were actually the issue of unethical output and directing , among other factors – and here are the three biggest myths aboutThe Exorcistdebunked .
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The Exorcist’s Set Caught Fire (Except Reagan’s Room)
product ofThe Exorcistbegan in August 1972 , but it go through various problem , mostly on - fix accidents , that conduct to it being delay and acquire over 200 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. to enwrap , which in play , resulted in yield going over budget . These problem during the filming ofThe Exorcistare the fundament of the so - call “ bane ” , beginning with a fire . The set for the inside of the MacNeil ’s house was destroy , but the only part that was get out unmoved by the flaming was , weirdly enough , Regan ’s room , where the dispossession need place . As eery as this incident sound , the fire has nothing to do with a curse or some supernatural front on set mess with the production ofThe exorciser , asthe blast was causedby a bird that fly into a circuit boxful . Of naturally , this led to output being delayed until the stage set was rebuilt , and while it ’s certainly a unusual coincidence that Regan ’s room was n’t damaged , the location of the flame ’s source and that of the elbow room might have been the reason why it was the only part leave stand .
Ellen Burstyn & Linda Blair’s On-Set Injuries
The set that caught fire was only the beginning of a serial of incidents during the make ofThe Exorcist , and while the fervidness did n’t exit any lasting wrong , the with child on - set up accidents did depart long - live damage on the victims . First , Ellen Burstyn ( who played Regan ’s mother , Chris)suffered a back injurywhile filming the scene where the possessed Regan throws Chris across the elbow room , right before the famous principal - whirl moment , and that vista was used in the film , mean that Burstyn ’s agonizing scream was 100 % existent . Burstyn suffered a coccyx fracture that was n’t care for adequately at the time , and as a result , it has stimulate her trouble ever since .
Linda Blair also bruise her back while filmingThe exorciser , specifically the scene where the bed was violently sway . Blair was loosely strapped to the bed , resulting in a break of her lower spur , and just like in Burstyn ’s face , Blair ’s take was also used in the last cut of the picture . Blair revealed that this injury caused her to develop scoliosis , affect her wellness for a long time . In addition to this , Blair train a womb-to-tomb aversion to cold , as Friedkin decided to chill Regan ’s elbow room to an extremum for realistically captivate the foggy breath . Behind - the - fit footage ofThe Exorcistshows the cast wear heavy jackets to stay affectionate between takes , while Blair was only break her character ’s nightgown , so it ’s completely understandable that she can no longer stand cold weather since then . Other reported harm on the set ofThe Exorcistwere a lightning technician who lost a toe and a carpenter who lost a thumb .
These accidents were n’t the result of a scourge , instead being the break of Friedkin and the rest of the yield crew . According toAmerica Magazine , Burstyn in reality plain that , while film the conniption in which she injured her back , she was getting pulled across the way too hard by limited effects supervisor Marcel Vercoutere , and though Friedkin tell her he would fix it , he ended up encouraging Vercoutere to pull hard , resulting in her fracture . Friedkin has a reputation for his directing methods , which include regularly give notice gun to get startled reactions in the actors , and is fuck to go to extremes to get the shot he desire , so , sadly , it ’s not surprising that he would go as far as to spite his principal cast to get what he want .
bear on : Why The Exorcist Deleted ( Then rejuvenate ) Regan ’s Infamous Spider Walk
The Exorcist’s Cast & Crew Deaths
Not only did serious injuries happen on the set ofThe exorciser , but there were also deaths among the casting and gang . Jack MacGowran , who act Chris ’ friend Burke Dennings , passed away a week after terminate his scenes , with the last one being Dennings ’ death , due to the own Regan . Vasiliki Maliaros , who played Father Karras ’ female parent , also died before the film was finished , with her character passing away at the beginning of the tarradiddle . The master cast ofThe Exorcistalso dealt with the demise of citizenry near to them as well as life - threatening incidents happen to their enjoy ones : Linda Blair ’s grandfather died during the first hebdomad of product , Max von Sydow had to travel back to Sweden after his first day on set as his brother passed away , and Jason Miller ’s Word , The Lost Boys ’ Jason Patric , was strickle by a bike , result him in critical condition . In summation to that , the night watcher and the manipulator of the infrigidation scheme for Regan ’s elbow room also die , as well as the assistant cameraman ’s newborn child .
It ’s easy to blame all these loss and fortuity on a curse , but it ’s important to call back that the production ofThe Exorcistlasted over nine months , and a lot can happen during that time . MacGowran kick the bucket from flu after complications resulting from the London grippe epidemic and Maliaros was 90 years old , and the sleep were just tragic coincidences .
The Studio Seized The Exorcist’s Accidents For Marketing Reasons
Friedkin once told the magazineCastle of Frankensteinthat they were “ plagued by strange and sinister things ” during the filming ofThe Exorcistand that some of the visuals had not been intended and could not be excuse , with Vercourtere adding that there was “ definitely a feeling something regretful could pass ” , but this only added tothe opinion ofThe Exorcistbeing cursed , which the studio apartment used to its advantage . plastic film historiographer Sarah Crowther ( viainews ) explain in 2018 that Warner Bros. had all the intention of create controversy aroundThe Exorcist , set out with its determination of releasing the film on Boxing Day 1973 . The studio apartment spread speculation about a curse before the flick was release , so it was plain widely and chop-chop spread thanks to the imperativeness , suck more attention to the film .
The opinion of the movie being cuss , along with the account itself and the graphic scenes , led to a number of viewer ingest very forcible reactions toThe exorciser , with reported cases of people fainting , vomit , and even heart attacks and a stillbirth bechance among TV audience . Every supposed “ curse ” aboutThe Exorcisthas an explanation , mostly linked to William Friedkin ’s controversial and unethical directing methods , and Warner Bros. used those myths to its favor , result inThe Exorcistbecoming one of the most successful , controversial , and scary movies ever made .
